ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) Price Target Raised to $89.00

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) had its price target hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $88.00 to $89.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

OKE has been the subject of a number of other reports. US Capital Advisors lowered ONEOK from an overweight rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded ONEOK from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on ONEOK from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on ONEOK from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, ONEOK presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $83.58.

ONEOK Stock Performance

OKE stock opened at $78.06 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $45.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.64. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. ONEOK has a 12-month low of $55.91 and a 12-month high of $81.81.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. ONEOK had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 12.54%. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ONEOK will post 4.95 EPS for the current year.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a $0.99 dividend. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is 92.09%.

ONEOK declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 17th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the utilities provider to repurchase up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ONEOK news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith acquired 2,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $75.25 per share, with a total value of $203,175.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,175. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of ONEOK

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in ONEOK by 30.7% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 136,559 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,662,000 after buying an additional 32,078 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its position in shares of ONEOK by 27.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 5,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 1,221 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in ONEOK by 25.2% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,026,619 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,118,000 after acquiring an additional 206,603 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in ONEOK during the third quarter worth about $238,000. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its holdings in ONEOK by 47.8% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 14,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $894,000 after purchasing an additional 4,558 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

About ONEOK

ONEOK, Inc engages in gathering, processing, fractionation, storage, transportation, and marketing of natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) in the United States. It operates through four segments: Natural Gas Gathering and Processing, Natural Gas Liquids, Natural Gas Pipelines, and Refined Products and Crude.